China has asked Japan not to attend a Nobel Peace Prize ceremony honouring Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, Japan's foreign minister said, in a move that could further strain Sino-Japanese ties after a recent territorial row.
Beijing has already warned European nations that supporting the jailed Chinese democracy activist would be seen as an affront to China's legal system.
Diplomatic sources said China had sent letters to ambassadors in Oslo discouraging them from showing up at the December 10 ceremony.
China is already preventing Liu's associates from leaving the country, with his lawyer Mo Shaoping stopped by police on Tuesday after trying to board a plane to London for a conference.
"What reason did they give? It was that our leaving the country would harm national security," Mo told Reuters.
The lawyer insisted he had no intention of travelling to the Norwegian capital.
"The International Bar Association invited me to speak at their conference three months ago and it had absolutely no connection with the peace prize," he said.
Relations between Asia's two largest economies deteriorated in September with the detention of a Chinese fishing boat captain by the Japanese coast guard after their boats collided near islands in the East China Sea that both sides claim.
Read more at Mail & Guardian
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